vi, 361 pages ; 24 cm

Large numbers of atheists, humanists, and conspiracy theorists are raising one of the most pressing questions in the history of religion: "Did Jesus exist at all?" Was he invented out of whole cloth for nefarious purposes by those seeking to control the masses? Or was Jesus such a shadowy figure--far removed from any credible historical evidence--that he bears no meaningful resemblance to the person described in the Bible? In Did Jesus Exist? historian and Bible expert Bart Ehrman confronts these questions, vigorously defends the historicity of Jesus, and provides a compelling portrait of the man from Nazareth. The Jesus you discover here may not be the Jesus you had hoped to meet--but he did exist, whether we like it or not.--Publisher

Includes bibliographical references

pt. I. Evidence for the historical Jesus. An introduction to the mythical view of Jesus -- Non-Christian sources for the life of Jesus -- The gospels as historical sources -- Evidence for Jesus from outside the gospels -- Two key data for the historicity of Jesus -- pt. II. The mythicists' claims. The mythicist case : weak and irrelevant claims -- Mythicist inventions : creating the mythical Christ -- pt. III. Who was the historical Jesus? Finding the Jesus of history -- Jesus the apocalyptic prophet -- Jesus and the mythicists

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